A November 6, 2023 cover article in Glamour magazine was entitled “1.3 Million Women Enter Menopause Each Year. We Have to Stop Ignoring Them”. This article describes the clinical challenge many women face as they transition through peri-menopause and menopause. One percent of women go through menopause by 40 and 5% are menopausal by 45. One of the most problematic areas of concern beyond the symptoms of night-sweats and flushing are mental health related. These mental health issues are in turn related to the alterations in female hormone physiology. There is now strong evidence for the association between sex hormones and changes in brain changes in older women. It is known that estrogen is a key neurosteroid that is important in mental health of women. Pharmacological interventions and hormonal therapies have been found to be of critical importance in managing depressive symptoms in both peri- and post-menopausal women.
This educational program sponsored by the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute in conjunction with Precision Analytical, makers of the DUTCH Test, and Central Drugs Compounding Pharmacy will provide the latest in information concerning the assessment of hormonal status in women and the optimization of hormonal therapies focused on improvement of mental health during the peri- and post-menopausal years.
The faculty for this program is recognized to be made up of key opinion leaders in both laboratory science and the clinical management of complex hormonal issues associated with menopause. Dr. Jeffrey Bland will open the conference with a short introduction to the complex interaction among adreno-cortical and sex hormones, Dr. Sara Gottfried will discuss mental health in menopause, Dr. Jaclyn Smeaton will discuss hormonal assessment, and Nayan Patel, PharmD will discuss hormone replacement therapy concluding with a panel discussion among the faculty moderated by Dr. Jeffrey Bland.
